Lia James
"Are you kidding me?" I asked him in disbelief. He gave me a nod, like it was something to take very seriously.
"I wish I was." His voice going up a few octaves due to the amount of stress he's being put under.
"Are you nervous that they're going to do something to you?"
"Seriously?" He raised an eyebrow. "If you know anything about me, you would know that I never get nervous."
"So, why are you so concerned about them being here if you aren't nervous?" I asked, looking back at the men behind us.
He took my hand and led me under the bleachers, where we would hear the constant ringing of feet stomping against the bleachers. The sound of voices were faint, but occasionally were loud if our team did something that benefitted them.
"They want me to do something...illegal." He tried saying, without actually saying it.
"When is it never illegal?"
"Well, it's kind of dangerous and I promised my parents I wouldn't get in trouble with the cops. Not again. It's too much of a risk."
"You've gotten in trouble with the police before?" I asked in shock.
"I'm Andrew fucking Price, Lia."
Okay, he makes a valid point but the cockiness of his voice made me want to just leave him here to be found by those tall, muscular, bad guys.
"Well, anyway," he started. "They keep bugging me about going with them to do that illegal thing for months now. I can't let them find me." He said, his eyes searching for some way to fix the problem.
"Wait. I have an idea." I took off my Red Sox cap and gave it to him.
"What's this for?" He held it up, making it seem like it was worth nothing.
It was worth everything.
"Well, if you don't want to be seen, you're going to have to cover up yourself a bit. Take that hat and put it on your head." I instructed, and he did as I said. His chocolate brown hair smoothing back inside the hat, with little curls coming out of the front.
I dug for something in my pocket. "Here. Take these also."
"Aviators?"
"It'll cover up some of your identity. It's worth a shot." I shrugged, and he gave me a look of agreement.
He put the black tinted aviators on the bridge of his nose, and stood there. He waited for me to evaluate him to make sure he wouldn't be caught.
"I don't know." I spoke honestly. "There's something that needs to be done. I can still recognize it's you."
"I think this is fine-"
"Wait! I got it!" I put my hands up, making sure he didn't take another step toward the bleachers.
"Take off your jacket." I told him, and he looked at me like I was crazy.
"You want me to take off my leather jacket? This thing is sacred to me, Lia. There's no way in hell your taking this away from me."
"I'm not going to lose it!" I said defensively, wanting him to take it off.
"I'm not doing it." He crossed his arms.
"You're so freaking annoying. Just take the damn thing off!" I tried ripping the leather off his body, but he plucked my hands away.
He took off the jacket, and hesitantly handed it to me. It seemed like he hadn't parted with it since he got it, and a part of me feels guilty. But, he didn't want to put himself at risk, and I wanted to help.
"You're going to lose it." He told me, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes.
"Am not."
"Are too!" He shouted.
"Okay, I'm not going to lose it." I decided to put the leather jacket on, on top of my blue warriors t-shirt.
"That way I won't drop it or anything. I can't let you be right." I smirked, and he looked at me like I did something wrong.
His leather jacket smelled like him. Like Old Spice with a mix of cologne. It was warm too, and it enveloped me with it. I really liked this jacket...a lot. It would be nice to have one like it.
"Oh, relax. It's not like I'm going to get it dirty or anything." I rolled my eyes, leading the way back to our seats.
"It's not that. It's just that no one, and I mean no one has worn that jacket other than Skull and I." He told me, reminiscing about his previous gang days.
"Right. Is it okay? I can take it off." I didn't want to offer that mainly due to the fact that it was starting to get a little cold out.
"No, it's fine. Just don't lose it. Whatever you do." He eyed me, his chocolate brown eyes practically piercing my blue ones.
"I won't. I promise. Now, let's go." I led him back to the bleachers.
We were extremely cautious of the scary guys from the gang seeing us, and also Lina and my friends seeing us. I made it to the bleachers first, taking my original seat next to Lina and Jace. I had told them I was going to the bathroom originally, which I was supposed to until I was caught up with Andrew's situation.
Andrew came after me, Shelby eyeing his new appearance, and constantly trying to take his hat off. He tried shoving her hands out of the way, but she would never get the hint. He finally had to distance himself from her, putting poor Eli between the two of them. But it didn't matter to him, he took interest in a girl that was sitting in front of them and kept staring at her ass. Not that him being like this is too much of a surprise.
The scoreboard read 14 to 21. We were losing. We were on defense, which Lina was going insane about, and the crowd bursted into constant chatter and applause for their team.
I looked around for the bad guys, and they were sitting on the bottom part of the bleachers, eating popcorn and scanning the crowd occasionally. They were trying to blend in, which looked difficult to them because of their scary physique.
I looked over at Andrew to make sure if he was okay, and I earned a scowl from Shelby. She was looking my way, telling me to turn back around. She must've knew I was trying to look at Andrew.
I saw him behind her, and he gave me a nod and a thumbs up. I nodded back and returned my attention back to the game.
There was only 10 minutes left.
***
The score was 28-21.
We scored another touchdown just after they scored theirs. I give them credit though, Forest Hills, they have a damn good defense. It took us five minutes to make several first downs and go down the field. But we did and scored.
After we scored another touchdown, we gave it to the other team for a punt return. Our defense played as hard as they could, and eventually made an interception and ran for another touchdown. The score was 28-21 them.
But unfortunately for them, we didn't give up. We made sure that they didn't score so that we wouldn't go into overtime. So, we played defense extremely well, making sure the other team didn't gain any yardage.
And we won.
After the game, Jace, Lina, Ollie, and I all went down to say congrats to the boys on their first victory. They were all super ecstatic, and they even dumped their gatorade containers on all three of their coaches. It was actually so freaking funny to witness.
We took pictures, which took a very long time because Lina wanted to make sure she looked perfect. Probably because she would want to post these on Instagram later or something.
Mason, Brady, and everyone else on the team had to race home to take a shower and wipe off all their sweat and eye-black on their faces. Us girls also had to race home to put on our dresses and put makeup on. I didn't want some elaborate make-up look. I just put on some mascara, and that was that. I don't even know how to do winged eye-liner or make eye shadow look like James Charles did it or something.
Once we were all ready, we got into one car and drove to the Victory Dance. It was held in the school's gymnasium, and their were tables with candles on them. A DJ booth in the far back, and on the sides were the bathroom and drinks. I'm sure something has attempted to spike those drinks at some point.
The DJ was playing typical club songs, something that everyone would dance too. Definitely better than last years homecoming where all you would hear is "I'm coming to f you b" except more explicit.
The song I heard was "Electricity" by Dua Lipa and I was happy that they played music that I knew. All of my friends went to the dance floor, which was covered in neon tiles, and we sang our hearts out.
"Dante!" Lina hugged her boyfriend, and they grabbed onto each other and started dancing.
I, for one, can't dance so I'm left just singing and throwing my arms up like everyone else. I look around and see Mason dancing with his friends. Cole was whipping and dabbing, like an absolute loser. Ryan was doing the robot. Ollie was dancing and occasionally flipping people off for watching him, and lastly, Jace was dancing with Jade. They start to tango together.
I walk over to Mason. "Gotta a dance partner?"
"I can't dance."
"Will you shut up?" I poke his chest lightly, and I grab his hands to get him to dance.
He spins me around a couple of times leaving me dizzy, and I spin him. But, since I'm short, she has to duck around my arm to spin a full rotation. He puts his hand on my side, while I put his on his shoulder, and put our other hands together.
We sway viciously to the music, making me laugh my hardest. I sing to the music, and whenever the beat dropped, we all stopped and then continued.
I look over at Lina who wasn't bothering with the music but swaying with her boyfriend back and forth. Their lips were connected, and I was shocked that she was so open about PDA. But then again, I'm not. She's Lina. Mason's twin.
Need I say more?
I look over past Lina, and find Andrew talking with Eli and Nick, drinking punch. He probable has a hidden flask somewhere in his pocket. Him and I both know he doesn't go anywhere without bringing alcohol.
Shelby is no where to be seen, but then I remembered Andrew telling me that she doesn't like dances because she thinks they are too gross and everyone gets all disgusting. And also, she usually spends her Friday nights with her credit card and the mall.
After a few songs have played, everyone began to sit down and drink punch. I look over to where Eli was sitting with Nick, and I noticed that Andrew wasn't with them.
Where was he?
He couldn't have left, they all took the same car, according to Eli. Apparently they all took Eli's car, and Andrew isn't the type of person to walk home.
About ten minutes have passed by and still Andrew was no where to be found. I was sitting down on one of the chairs at our table. Mason was sitting next to me, talking to Cole and Ollie. Jace and Jade, across from me, were laughing at something on their phones. Lina and Dante were cuddling up against each other.
Why am I always the odd one out? I shake my head in annoyance and look back to see if Andrew has gotten back.
Nope.
"What's up?" Mason asks me, and I whip my head around fast.
"Damn, I almost got whiplash from that." I groaned in pain, putting my hair in the back on my body.
"You keep looking around. Are you okay?" Mason asks, probably trying to make conversation. He probably thinks I'm bored or something.
"I'm fine. I'm just going to...use the bathroom." I pointed aimlessly and got up.
"Don't be too long. Cole snuck in a flask and we all need to have some punch." He winked before turning his body toward Cole again.
I push the doors of the gymnasium and look for the nearest girls bathroom. I didn't actually need to go to the bathroom, I just wanted to get some air first. I'm not really sure why.
It's not that I'm not having a great time, it's just I feel so awkward and out of place. And I've never felt like that with my friends before.
Is it because I've started to hang out with Andrew? Is it because I don't talk to him as much?
I honestly don't know, but everyone has got each other, except for me. Lina has Dante, Jace and Jade are starting to become closer apparently, Mason's got his best guy friends. Then, there's me.
I look into the mirror and take in my appearance. I adjust my dress, looking at myself in disgust. I've always hated wearing dresses, I've never liked how they looked on me. My body not proportionate, and it makes dresses or anything right, look awkward.
My chest is small, my shoulders are small, my hips are wide, my thighs are big, my ankles are small, my feet are big. I've never enjoyed how I looked. I've always hated my body.
I look away from the mirror, and brush off my dress and get ready to head back into the gym. But, as soon as I got out of the bathroom, I heard voices. Two of them.
I went to the end of the hallway, slowly, not wanting my converse to make any loud sounds. I peer over the corner, and see Andrew talking to one of the guys at the football game. The one's he was warning me about.
The guy had an enormous slash going across his cheek, and his eyebrows furrowed as Andrew tried to talk to him. He looked angry, and so did Andrew.
Andrew wore black trousers, and a white dress-up shirt. He black tie draped down his body and flopped whenever he made a sudden movement. He looked good, like he always did.
He curly brown hair was gelled up, and he occasionally tugged at it in frustration. I decided to stop looking at what was happening and start listening. I turned my body back so that they wouldn't see me.
"I told you I didn't want to do that. Why do you think I've been avoiding your calls?" Andrew shouts harshly.
"You made a deal with us, Crusher, so you're either in or I come after you. You're not that hard to find." He threatened, and I could feel the tension in the hallway.
"I'm not coming with you, I'm sorry. It's too dangerous. My men need me, and I can't abandon them for that long." Andrew tries to reason.
"Crusher, you're men are strong. They will do fine without you. You're going with us." The man stated flatly. "Don't make me use my gun."
"Don't make me use mine." Andrew threatened.
I hate to admit it, but what he said was hot.
"You think you can threaten me? We own you Crusher! We have the ability to send you to Giovanni any day of the week. We keep you alive. Otherwise, Giovanni would be out for your ass and you would be a dead man."
Who is Giovanni?
"Giovanni has nothing on me. He can't kill me without a reason."
"Do you want me to give him one?" The man threatens again.
"Fine! Fucking fine! I'll go with you." Andrew gives in. "But just give me a few minutes and I'll meet you outside. I gotta come up with a reason to tell my friends."
"Make it quick, Crusher. Our asses are on the line." I heard his steps start to faint away.
I sigh in exasperation after everything that I have heard this evening. This was too much information.
I'm actually kind of scared for Andrew, he told me that this mission was dangerous. I don't want him getting hurt. Who else would call me LeeLee or try to piss me off to the max?
I mean, I guess Cole could but it's not the same.
My train of thought was interrupted by a body smacking me into the wall. I tried screaming but the person covered my mouth.
"What the fuck Lia?" Andrew cursed, and I felt relived that it wasn't anyone else.
"What?" I say innocently.
"What are you doing eavesdropping on me? That's fucking dangerous." He breathed in harshly, and I gulped.
"I was in the bathroom and I heard voices." I babbled on but he cut me off.
"Lia, you're so stupid." He insulted, but it was true. I am dumb. "What if he saw you? He wouldn't have hesitated to kill you."
"Why would he kill me?" I asked, but instantly regretted it. That was a stupid question.
"Lia, they don't want anything knowing the kind of shit that they do. Ever. If they know someone knows about them, they won't hesitate to put a bullet through someone's fucking heart." He let's me go, and runs his hands through his hair.
"I'm sorry!" I apologized, and put my hands up in surrender.
"You're so naïve, don't you know that? You don't think clearly and that could get you seriously hurt."
"I told you I was sorry. I won't do it again." I shrugged, and he sighed once again.
"Why do you think it's okay to eavesdrop on my conversations?" His eyes burned into mine.
"I don't, I get curious. That's all." I immediately felt guilty.
"Just stay at the dance and don't go anywhere." He advised. "I'll be fine."
"Since when do you care what I do?" I said a little harsh.
"I don't." I felt my blood run cold. "But I'd rather not have someone die and have it be my fault. Not again."
Again?
"Okay, well. Just be careful. I'm sure Nick wants his brother all in one piece." I joke, but he doesn't laugh.
I walk back into the gymnasium and watch as Andrew goes the other way.
I'm feeling slightly worried for him, especially all that he told me about those guys. I don't feel too comfortable with him going somewhere and doing something dangerous.
But then again, why do I care what he does?
I mean I care about what he does because he's my friend.
Well, not really.
~*~
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This chapter was intense. And a lot of fun to write :)
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